Some of the remains wore jewellery, including earrings, as in this case

“The use of ornaments made from sea shells from the Gulf of California had never been found before in Sonoran territory and this discovery extends the limit of influence of Mesoamerican peoples farther north than has been previously recorded.”

She added: “Cranial deformation in Mesoamerican cultures was used to differentiate one social group from another and for ritual purposes, while the dental mutilation in cultures such as the Nayarit was seen as a rite of passage into adolescence.”

Elongated skulls have previously been misinterpreted as being of extra-terrestrial origin.

Misshapen skulls are documented among Mesoamerican peoples, but never this far north until now

The process of elongating a skull usually begins in childhood with a process called “cradle-boarding”.